Summary for Derry Cairngorm

Derry Cairngorm is an munro in Scotand and is located in the area as defined by SMC. (and lies in region known as )

Height	Grid Ref.	Pronunciation	Meaning
1155 metres / 3789 feet	NO017980	Derry Cairngorm	Blue peak of Glen Derry
Location		Access

càrn

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Details for Derry Cairngorm

Derry Cairngorm (Scottish Gaelic: Càrn Gorm an Doire) is a Scottish mountain in the Cairngorms range, 14 kilometres north west of Braemar in the Highland region. With a height of 1155 m (3789 ft), it is the 20th highest Munro. Derry Cairngorm is regarded as part of the central group of Cairngorm hills, along with Ben Macdhui and Càrn a' Mhàim. Macdhui stands four km to the north west and they are connected by a col with a height of 1014 m.

The mountain was originally named An Carn Gorm but was renamed to Carn Gorm an Doire to avoid confusion with the nearby Cairn Gorm. The name has now been anglicised to Derry Cairngorm: the original Gaelic means “Blue cairn of Derry”. Derry is the anglicisation of doire, or doireach, meaning wooded, a reference to the Scots pines that adorn the southern slope of the mountain near Derry Lodge, remnants of the old Caledonian Forest. The mountain is called "blue" despite having a distinct pink tinge as result of its granite rocks (see photo).

Derry Cairngorm is an eight-kilometre-long ridge-type mountain that runs north to south, it rises from Glen Luibeg in the south and concludes at Coire Etchachan in the north, where it is joined to Beinn Mheadhoin. Coire Etchachan has Loch Etchachan lying within it, at a height of 930 metres the highest notable expanse of water in Great Britain. It has trout living in it. On its eastern flanks the mountain falls steeply and craggily into Glen Derry while its western flanks descend more moderately to the valley of the infant Luibeg Burn. Derry Cairngorm is characterised by large granite boulders on its higher slopes, which make walking in the summit area difficult, often having to resort to hopping between boulders. All drainage from the mountain flows south via the Derry and Luibeg burns to join the River Dee and reach the sea at Aberdeen.

Derry Cairngorm has two subsidiary summits listed in the Munro Tables. Creagan a' Choire Etchachan (1108 m) stands 1.5 km north of the main summit and is a fine viewpoint down into the wild Coire Etchachan. Sgurr an Lochan Uaine (983 m), 1.5 km north east, is seen as just a hump near the cliff edge from the main summit but is more distinct when seen from Glen Derry, which it overlooks. Eight hundred metres south of the summit lies an unnamed point with a height of 1040 m. This is the former "top" called Little Cairngorm, which was deleted from the tops' list in 1974.

The number of registered munro-madness users who have climbed Derry Cairngorm is Twenty-Four